MICHAEL AGNETA, 47, moved to Congress Street after living at the Eastland Park Hotel. At the Starbucks on Congress Street on Monday, he said he would support making State Street two-way, but not High Street. “State Street can handle it because it’s wide enough,” said Agneta, who expressed concern about any potential construction.

SUSAN WALTZ, 44, commutes from Newcastle to work at Mercy Hospital. She crosses State Street several times a day for work and believes that something must be done to slow traffic. “(Drivers) see the green light and they’re just gunning it to get through,” she said. “It’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

JAMIE WRIGHT, 48, owns Gorham Ski and Bike, near the Congress-State street intersection. He said he was surprised to hear that the city was considering making High and State two-way streets. “It doesn’t seem like that big a problem to me,” he said. “But if it slows down traffic that would be great, especially if they put bike lanes in.”

ANDY VERZOSA, 50, the owner of Aucocisco Art Gallery, was eating lunch Monday at an outdoor table at Local Sprouts on Congress Street. He said he supports the change as a way to make Portland more pedestrian-friendly. “People just step right out into traffic now,” he said. “With slower traffic, it can be a little more manageable.”

YESHE PARKS, 30, lives on outer Washington Avenue and commutes by bike to his job at Standard Baking Co. on Commercial Street. He is skeptical that two-way traffic would solve Portland’s traffic problem. “Traffic is terrible anyway,” he said. “Parking is terrible. You have to walk or ride your bike.”

NANCY NEVERGOLE, 62, an East End resident, was working at Yes Books on Monday. She doesn’t drive, and often walks to work and across the Casco Bay Bridge to her art gallery in South Portland. “I don’t know if (two-way streets) would make it feel less dangerous,” she said. “I’m really anti-car. I would have no cars.”

 

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